There has been an increased need to provide efficient food catering services for off-site occasions such as wedding, birthday and garden parties and the like. For such parties, the caterer provides not only the specialty foods, but also all the equipment to serve such foods including food covers, trays, tables, utensils, etc. In transporting such gear to the off-site location, the caterer must carefully stow these items as separate stackable units since available space in his van, truck or the like is limited.
At the off-site locations, the food trays are each provided with separate food covers. One such design I am familiar with uses two domes hinged together by a metal piano hinge across their tops.
The design has several drawbacks. The piano hinge is attached by rivets or the like. Hence once assembled, disassembly of the cover for whatever purpose and re-assembly, is impossible without extensive modification of the design. Hence such covers cannot be easily disassembled and re-assembled at the off site location.
While the prior art is replete with food covers, I am unaware of any design having the following advantages, in combination:
(i) that can be assebled from separate molded plastic elements at the off-site use location without tools;
(ii) after assembly at the off-site location, that can provide protection of food both in a full closed position yet be easily opened to a full open position to serve or to replenish the food;
In this regard, I have reviewed U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,080,551; 2,770,389 and 4,723,693 which show split lid designs for ice chests, frying pans, shakers and the like. These covers have open positions that either are overcenter from any vertical plane through the hinge, or that vary as a function of thickness and type of plastic used to form the hinge. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,745,548; 3,015,405; 4,005,798; 4,773,555 and RE 32,745 are likewise distinguishable in that for the most part, overcenter open positions attained by mechanical linkages are taught. An exception is U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,798 where the user physically lifts the cover from the pan and uses a slotted metal block attached to the side of the cover to position the cover in an almost vertical position.